M3 suspension a little too soft?

[yangin]

Hi all,

Took my car to the track for the first time on the weekend.

One thing actually surprised me, the car wasn't as stiffed as I had hoped. Felt a little heavy and boaty in some corners...

What are my best bang for buck options to stiffen things up? Was thinking Swift Spec R springs and perhaps a new strut brace?

I really dont want to spend too much, in fact I was planning to keep the car stock till my experience on the track.

Any suggestions?

[Z K]

Originally Posted by yangin

Hi all,

Took my car to the track for the first time on the weekend.

One thing actually surprised me, the car wasn't as stiffed as I had hoped. Felt a little heavy and boaty in some corners...

What are my best bang for buck options to stiffen things up? Was thinking Swift Spec R springs and perhaps a new strut brace?

I really dont want to spend too much, in fact I was planning to keep the car stock till my experience on the track.

Any suggestions?

Can't do much with the stock shocks. You need to replace the factory shocks with something with more aggressive rebound to get rid of the floating feeling when the car unweights on corners. Springs will not do much at all and it will just destroy the stock shocks faster.

[yangin]

Hmm I would of thought that replacing the springs with a good set would add a noticeable difference.

May need to look into coilovers then...

[Kunman]

imo this feeling of roll is great for improving driving skills as it exaggerates weight transition under load. Imagine driving a car with zero body roll, dive, or squat, you would have a hard time understanding what the car is doing.

But Swift Spec R springs seems to have the perfect spring rate for our car at 5f and 12r, which imo is just between a comfortable and a mild track setup.

[yangin]

Given its a relatively cheap mod I will give this a crack. At the very least it will give me a better stance!

[LiM3y]

I added Eibach springs and an H&R front sway bar to stiffen the front up. This is what Turner did to their Lime Rock Edition M3. It works well, although it was more difficult to get the back to step out on a tight Auto-X course. On a full course, it works well and tightens the car up

[Andy_H_E92_M3]

Originally Posted by LiM3y

I added Eibach springs and an H&R front sway bar to stiffen the front up. This is what Turner did to their Lime Rock Edition M3. It works well.

+1

[1MOREMOD]

Originally Posted by Kunman

imo this feeling of roll is great for improving driving skills as it exaggerates weight transition under load. Imagine driving a car with zero body roll, dive, or squat, you would have a hard time understanding what the car is doing.

But Swift Spec R springs seems to have the perfect spring rate for our car at 5f and 12r, which imo is just between a comfortable and a mild track setup.

+1, controlling the weight transfer and feeling what the car is doing is more obvious with the stock set up. it always felt slow to take a set and was floaty in transitions but decent learning platform with all that mass moving around.

[okusa]

The Dinan Stage 1 + camber plates is a significant improvement over stock at the track and is great on the street.

[nickdrivesm3]

Suspension setups are a science. Learn to drive on a stock suspension then learn to drive on a proper suspension. Do your research and make sure your shock's rebound/compression are matched properly with the rate of travel of your springs.

[Sebringjetta]

Originally Posted by 1MOREMOD

+1, controlling the weight transfer and feeling what the car is doing is more obvious with the stock set up. it always felt slow to take a set and was floaty in transitions but decent learning platform with all that mass moving around.

agree!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[yangin]

Thanks for the advice guys.

I will work on this step by step. I think I will hit the track a few more times before making any decisions. But am leaning towards starting with a set of springs.